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Job 1:1-5; 13-19, 20-22; 2:7-10

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Satan does his best to make circumstances appear as if God was unjustly afflicting Job, and yet Job holds onto his faith and does not accuse God of mistreating him. When the circumstances of our lives make it look as if God has forsaken us, we should look to the example of Job and recognize that there may be more going on behind the scenes than we can see with our natural eyes.

Job 1
¹ There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Theologians believe that Job lived roughly in the time of Abraham or perhaps slightly earlier, between the time of the tower of Babel and Abraham. He lived in the land of Uz, an area believed to be east of the land of Canaan in modern day Jordan. Job was “perfect” [complete; wholesome; moral] and “upright” [righteous] because he feared God. He also “eschewed” [to turn away from] evil.

² And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. ³ His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

God had blessed Job, giving him 10 children (7 sons and 3 daughters) as well as great herds of livestock. He also had a very large household, which most likely refers to the number of servants he had working for him. In Job’s day wealth was not measured in money or land but in livestock, so that, combined with the large number of servants required to care for them, made Job the wealthiest man “of the east” (east of Palestine).

⁴ And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

The seven sons would each take a turn hosting a feast in their house, inviting the other other brothers and the three sisters to join them. Since there were seven sons, there may have been a week of feasting with each son hosting a dinner for the other siblings on a different day of the week. Or possibly there were multiple single day feasts throughout the year and each son took his turn hosting. The picture seems to be one of family harmony between all the siblings.

⁵ And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

“And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about” – Once the feasting was over, Job would intercede in behalf of his children. The phrase “days of their feasting” implies that these were seven day feasts (a day for each son).

“that Job sent and sanctified [consecrate] them” – Job would send for his sons (and likely the daughters as well) and would consecrate them to insure their obedience to God.

“and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all” – Job served as priest for his household, making burnt offerings for each of his children to atone for their sins.

“for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts” – They may have cursed God, not verbally, but in their hearts by disregarding God and His commandments. Knowing human nature, Job took precautions in case any of his children did this either consciously or unconsciously.

“Thus did Job continually” – Job obviously loved his children because he never failed to intercede in behalf of his children to help them stay right with God.

These first five verses describe Job as a man who had everything going for him: he was righteous before God; he had a large family who loved one another and he loved them and cared for their spiritual needs; he was the wealthiest man in the region. This description sets the stage for the remainder of the book.

Verses 6-12: Satan, along with other angelic beings, come to give an account of themselves before the LORD. We should take note that it is God Who first mentions Job to Satan, declaring the man’s righteousness, his fear of God and his avoidance of evil. Satan argues that Job only serves God because it’s in his best interests to do so because of the blessings and not because he loves God. The LORD then gives Satan permission to take away all of Job’s possessions.

¹³ And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: ¹⁴ And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: ¹⁵ And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

With permission from God to take away all that Job has, Satan plans his assault on Job well. He picks a day when Job’s children are together under one roof feasting and then begins his campaign to destroy Job’s faith in God using four rapid-fire disasters. He first causes a band of bandits to steal Job’s oxen and asses, killing the servants who were caring for them. Satan makes sure that one servant survives in order to bring Job the bad news.

¹⁶ While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

Satan’s assault continues with a second servant arriving before the first is finished telling Job his news. When the second servant’s turn to speak comes, he describes witnessing “the fire of God” (most likely lightening) falling from heaven and killing all Job’s sheep as well as the servants that were watching over them. Satan, who apparently has some influence on the weather, orchestrates this disaster in such a way as to make it appear as if it was performed by God. Again, Satan makes certain there is one survivor to return and report to Job what has happened.

¹⁷ While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

As before, the second servant has not yet finished his tale before a third servant arrives with more disastrous news. This time a nomadic group of Chaldeans has attacked and killed the servants watching over Job’s camels and stolen the herd. For a third time, Satan spares a single servant so that he can report the disaster to Job.

¹⁸ While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: ¹⁹ And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

As if taking all Job’s wealth was not enough, Satan hits Job with a fourth disaster designed to crush him. As before, this fourth servant arrives before the third servant had a chance to finish his report. The fourth servant reports that “a great wind from the wilderness” came and destroyed the house where Job’s children were feasting, killing them and presumably the servants that were waiting on them. Although not described as a “whirlwind” many commentators believe this “great wind” to be a tornado. Satan again spares a single servant so that he can bear the news in this final blow in the assault against Job.

²⁰ Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, ²¹ And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. ²² In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

“Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped” – Tearing one’s clothes and shaving the head were common expressions of grief. However, Job followed these with falling down humbly on the ground and worshiping God. Do we react the same way in the face of tragic loss?

“And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither” – Job recognizes that he started life with nothing and if he ended life with nothing then he has lost nothing. Anything he had in between was a blessing from God.

“the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away” – This is a beautiful example of submission to God. Job recognizes that God is free to give us anything He wants and He is equally free to take it away. We are the servants of God and He owes us nothing.

“blessed be the name of the LORD” – Job humbly exalts God for He is our Creator and our Lord. He is not our genie that is supposed to grant us our wishes; rather we are the ones who are to obey His will and thus He is worthy of all the praise and glory we can give Him even when He doesn’t do what we want.

“In all this Job sinned not, nor charged [to give; to assign] God foolishly” – Despite his tragic losses, Job did not assign blame to God for what had happened.

Job 2:1-6: Satan again presents himself to God along with the other “sons of God.” God points out that Job has still not lost his faith despite losing his family and wealth. Satan now argues that if Job lost his health then the fear of losing his life would cause Job to curse God and abandon his faith. God gives Satan power over Job’s health but forbids him from taking Job’s life.

Job 2
⁷ So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. ⁸ And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.

Satan appears to waste no time in going after Job again and afflicts him with painful, malignant boils that covers his entire body. Job’s suffering was so great that he found a piece of broken pottery to use to scrape the sores and sat down “among the ashes” (the ash heap outside the city where people took their garbage to be burnt) in an expression of his grief.

⁹ Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. ¹⁰ But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

Satan uses Job’s wife to further tempt him to curse God. She asks Job “Why are you still being faithful to God after He’s done all this to you? Why don’t you curse Him and let Him finish you off and get it over with?” Yet Job resisted this temptation despite all he’d lost and the intensity of his suffering. He tells his wife she is speaking as if she were a “foolish” (lacking spiritual discernment) woman. He then asks a rhetorical question that makes the point that if we are willing to accept good things from God, we ought also to be willing to accept when He allows bad things to happen. To do so proves that we are submitted to God. Despite everything that he threw at Job, Satan’s prediction that Job would curse God failed, for he never sinned with his lips by cursing God.